NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, March 28, 2014, 1:14 AM
ANAHEIM – Sean Miller looked wrung out. The Arizona coach’s face and shirt were wet with perspiration, his necktie undone and askew. But he was also hugging everyone on the Wildcats’ bench.
If the NCAA Tournament is about “survive and advance,” this is what it looks like.
Top-seeded Arizona survived No. 4 San Diego State 70-64 in a heavyweight West Region semifinal Thursday night at Honda Center. The Wildcats (33-4) were behind for the first 12 minutes of the second half but kept relentlessly charging and finally broke through. Top scorer Nick Johnson had no points with four minutes to play and was 0-for-10 from the floor, but scored 15 points after U of A grabbed the lead to get it across the finish line.
“Nick Johnson just exploded down the stretch,” Atzec Dwayne Polee II said.
Arizona will face No. 2 Wisconsin Saturday for a spot in the Final Four.
Aaron Gordon had 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting and T.J. McConnell had 11 points for the ’Cats. Xavier Thames had 25 points and Polee II – the transfer from St. John’s – had 13 points including three three-pointers for the Aztecs (31-5). Polee had 10 of his points in the first half when SDSU built a lead.
But SDSU is not a team that scores easily and late in the game it hit a scoring drought that brought its demise. The Aztecs went 7:01 without a basket – between JJ O’Brien’s layup with 8:18 to play making it 49-46 for the Aztecs until Polee’s three-pointer with 1:17 got SDSU within 61-56.
MConnell’s layup with with 7:19 to play gave the Wildcats a 50-49 lead, it’s first since 22-20. Gordon’s layup with 5:46 left put them up 52-50 and they never trailed after.
“Anyone who watched the team live or on the radio had to see a team with character and toughness, good enough to win but didn’t quite get it done,” SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. “We were beaten by a very good team and we’re very disappointed.”
SDSU surged to the front with a tremendous stretch late in the first half and led 32-28 at the break after Johnson’s 45-foot three-point attempt went in, but was ruled to have come after the half expired.
For the Arizona fans – who didn’t quite match the number of Aztec fans in number – Johnson’s missed trey might have conjured memories of the Wildcats’ regional final loss to UConn here in 2011. Jamelle Horne’s missed three-pointer at the end of that West Region final sent the Huskies and Kemba Walker on to the Final Four where they won the national championship.
Arizona was up 22-20 when SDSU reeled off nine unanswered points. Thames started it with a three-point play and Polee had the arena at fever pitch when he picked off a pass and took it for a spectacular dunk with 5:31 to halftime. ’Cats big man Kaleb Tarczewski also picked up his third foul in the stretch, which ended with a Winston Shepard jumper making it 29-22.
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